Malaysia’s most powerful Muslim youth organisation has urged young people to stop sharing a secretly recorded video allegedly showing a federal minister engaging in sex acts with a male political aide.

The explicit clip went viral yesterday after it was shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube and sent to a number of journalists.

It allegedly features the youth branch chief of Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR party, Haziq Aziz, in a tryst with federal minister Azmin Ali at the Hotel Four Points in the resort city of Sandakan, Sabah last month.

The Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia said it was dismayed the videos had been circulated so widely and urged young Muslims not to engage in the “abusive practice of shaming an individual”.

“Propagating such videos or images is an example of qazaf, which is to accuse someone of committing zina (infidelity) without knowing the truth of the matter,” it said in a statement.

“Even in today’s world of technological advancements, when technology could be manipulated to victimise someone, one must be reminded that qazaf is still a crime.”

The comments appeared to allude to speculation the video was a “deep fake”, where AI technology is used to generate hyper realistic images and videos of situations that never happened.

PRK youth branch chief Haziq Aziz in a still from his extraordinary video message ‘confessing’ to his role in the sex tape. Picture: FacebookSource:Supplied

However, just hours after the leak, Mr Haziq posted an extraordinary Facebook “confession” declaring the authenticity of the video, which he claimed was filmed without his knowledge, and labelling Mr Azmin unfit for public office.

“I am Haziq Aziz, I hereby confess I am the individual with Azmin Ali in the video which has been viraled (sic) last night,” he says in the 34-second message captioned “To my fellow Malaysians”.

“The video was recorded without my permission on May 11 during the Sandakan by-election (politicians) room at Four Points Hotel.

“I urge SPRM (Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission) to investigate Azmin Ali in corruption claims. He is not an individual qualified to be leader.”

The message has been viewed around half a million times since it was posted at 2.32am on June 12.

Meanwhile, Mr Azmin has denied any sexual relationship with Mr Haziq, dismissing the video as a political smear campaign.

“I refer to the various media reports today publishing the allegations of an individual regarding a sex video purporting to implicate me,” he said in a statement. “I categorically deny this vicious libel upon me.

“This is nothing but a nefarious plot to assassinate my reputation and character in an attempt to destroy my political career.”

LGBT Malaysians face significant discrimination from much of the population, which is more than 60 per cent Muslim and sodomy remains a criminal offence punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Mr Haziq is youth branch chief for Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR party, which is part of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s ruling coalition that toppled former leader Najib Razak in last year’s historic federal election.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail condemned the video, labelling it an example of “dirty politics” at a press conference on Thursday. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

The scandal, dubbed “sexgate” by some news outlets, is something Malaysians have seen before, with Mr Anwar having repeatedly been jailed or threatened with jail in similar circumstances over the past three decades.

In 1998, the then-opposition leader was sentenced to nine years for sodomy after his former speechwriter and secretary accused him of engaging in sexual acts with him. He was released in 2004 after his accuser withdrew the allegations, claiming they were obtained under duress.

In 2008, Mr Anwar was charged with sodomising a male aide. He was tried in 2010 and 2011 before being acquitted in 2012.

In March 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and imposed a sentence of five years.

Mr Anwar remained in jail until May 16 2018, when he was pardoned by Dr Mahathir.